The late delivery is already 18 days. Which path comes first?

A: Cost the line stop. Under 5 days of stock, air 300 cases for 24000 yuan and 9 days; 5 to 14 days, split 720 first; beyond 14 days, reschedule with an allowance.

Why air-freight only 300 cases?

A: 300 cases are 570 kg and 24000 yuan, enough to bridge to the next sea arrival. All 1200 by air is close to 100000 yuan, or three and a half days of line stop, which does not pay.

Why split at 720 and 480?

A: 60% covers the customer's usage inside 7 days, and 480 follows within the 14-day replenishment cycle, so the two arrivals sit either side of the stock gap.

What sets the allowance between 2% and 5%?

A: The days slipped. 2% inside 7 days, 3% to 4% to day 14, 5% beyond; on a 360000 yuan order, 3% is 10800 yuan.

Is the 21-day clause still live?

A: Yes. The late delivery stands at 18 days with 3 left, and air booking takes 2, so a decision this week is the last one that can still move cargo.

Late Delivery: Handling Late Deliveries

Quick answer: Once a late delivery is confirmed you have three moves: air freight, split shipment, or reschedule with an allowance, chosen on line-stop cost.

Cost the Line Stop First
Air Freight: What 42 Yuan a Kilo Buys
Split Shipment: 720 First, 480 Later
Delay Plus Allowance: Setting 2% to 5%
The 70:30 Split and the 21-Day Clause
FAQ

1. Cost the Line Stop First

A confirmed late delivery leaves three moves: chase the goods, split them, or push them back and pay an allowance. The costs differ by an order of magnitude, and the choice turns on what a stopped line burns in a day, not on which option looks tidier. At 1800 yuan an hour across two 16-hour shifts, that is 28800 yuan a day, so any freight premium below it is worth paying.

Do the arithmetic before the phone call. The order is 1200 cases and the late delivery runs 18 days; safety stock is usually gone by then, and the freight difference is nowhere near the line-stop figure. The negotiation is about days.

Recovery path	Extra cost, yuan	Arrives earlier by
Air freight, 300 cases	24000	9 days
Split, 720 and 480	6000	4 days
Reschedule with allowance	11000	0 days

The three moves stack: air for the urgent slice, a split for the balance, an allowance for whatever still slips. Run it backwards and the money is spent while the line stays down.

2. Air Freight: What 42 Yuan a Kilo Buys

Air is priced by weight, and under 30 kg it moves on the courier channel at 42 yuan a kilo, 11 times the sea rate. The multiple sounds brutal until the denominator appears: one case weighs 1.9 kg, so 300 cases are 570 kg and 24000 yuan. That buys nine days of line time.

Late delivery stock: four columns of pale wood shelving, one closed case in each bay in olive, grey and black, some with orange latches

Air carries the slice that keeps the line running, never the whole order. All 1200 cases by air is 2280 kg and near 100000 yuan, three and a half days of line stop; send the urgent 300 to bridge to the next sea arrival.

Two constraints bite on the day you decide. Above 30 kg the courier channel ends and cargo rates and transit times change. Packing is rebuilt for air stacking height, not for the sea pallet footprint. Confirm both before booking, or the goods sit at the airport.

3. Split Shipment: 720 First, 480 Later

A late delivery split is simple arithmetic: 1200 cases at 60% and 40%, so 720 go first and 480 follow. The extra cost is 6000 yuan, mostly re-documentation, a second trucking leg and one extra storage week, and the first batch lands 4 days earlier.

The condition is that the customer can hold those days. Within 7 days of delay, shipping 60% first keeps the line alive; with a 14-day replenishment cycle the second batch arrives inside the window. Split later than 7 days and the first batch loses its point.

Days the customer can hold	Line-stop risk	Suggested path
Under 5	High	Air 300, split the rest
5 to 14	Medium	Split, 720 and 480
Over 14	Low	Reschedule with allowance

Splitting also splits the paperwork: one bill of lading becomes two, with matching marks, packing lists and invoices, and customs declared twice. The fee is small but the amendment needs 3 days, so a same-week container cannot be split at all.

4. Delay Plus Allowance: Setting 2% to 5%

Rescheduling is not inaction; it converts the slip into money. The allowance runs on order value, and 2% to 5% is the usual band: 1200 cases at 300 yuan each is 360000 yuan, so 3% is 10800 yuan, which sits in the same range as the other two paths.

Late delivery catch-up: a worker presses a seal strip into a black case groove, coiled gaskets in a carton beside her

The percentage follows the days, not the mood: 2% inside 7 days, 3% to 4% from 7 to 14, 5% beyond 14. Put that ladder in the contract annex and the conversation ends before it starts.

Keep the allowance and any quality deduction on separate documents: one compensates time, the other defects, and merged paperwork lets a customer read the allowance as an admission. A reschedule also needs a checkable arrival date: vessel, voyage, ETA, delivery booking.

5. The 70:30 Split and the 21-Day Clause

Who pays the extra is already in the contract, and handling time is for executing it. The common split is 70:30, supplier to buyer, so the 24000 yuan air bill lands as 16800 and 7200. That assumes both sides contributed; a one-sided late delivery does not qualify.

Twenty-one days is the hard line. A late delivery of 21 days triggers the penalty clause. At 18 days there are 3 days left. Those 3 days decide whether air freight starts now. Booking and palletising take 2 days. Day 20 misses the flight.

Day	Action	Document out
Day of confirmation	Cost the line stop, pick the path	Path confirmation
Day 1	Book air, amend the split	Booking, amendment
Day 3	Load the first 720	Packing list, two bills
Day 7	Agree the allowance	Allowance letter
Day 21	Trigger the penalty clause	Claim letter

The table matters because the hard part of a late delivery is not choosing a path but keeping people on the milestones. Each node carries a document, and that is what makes a claim stand up later.

Conclusion

Handling a late delivery is arithmetic, not diplomacy: 1800 yuan an hour of line stop, 24000 for nine days by air, 6000 for four days by split, 11000 for a buffer by allowance. Each path works alone, and the expensive mistake is spending money without moving the line. Write the milestones as a table, the allowance as a ladder, and the next late delivery runs on a procedure.